A Study of Elementary Public School Personnel Attitudes Toward Continuing Education in Selected Communities in Wyoming: An Experiment in Changing Adult Attitudes and Concepts.

Burrichter, Arthur W.

A study was made to determine the attitudes of elementary public school teachers and administrators toward education as a lifelong process and the possibility of isolating, testing, and changing adult attitudes to encompass new concepts. Full time elementary school personnel (455) in Albany and Laramie counties completed a tested adult attitude scale. From these, 88 were selected for the experimental study; and of these 88, 41 completed the experiment. In Albany county, 12 of the 41 persons met in two sessions with a film, lecture, and small group discussions; while 29 from Laramie county received the information only through the mail in written form. Both methods of disseminating information about the tested concepts on the attitude scale were significantly effective in changing total scores in the low and high groups. Neither method showed greater effectiveness when comparing changes between low and high groups. However, the Albany county method of small group discussion produced a significantly greater change in total scores than did the Laramie county method of mailed information. (A bibliography and the questionnaires used are included.) [Not available in hardcopy due to marginal legibility of original document] (author/nl)